A strut Type shock absorber comprises an outer shell and a shock absorber inserted into the outer shell. A lower portion of the outer shell is mounted near the wheel side of a vehicle while being supported by a knuckle bracket.
There are known knuckle brackets of this type for example, those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 13790/86, U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,339 and Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 160442/81, and the structure shown in FIG. 10 attached hereto has been adopted as a typical structure.
The knuckle bracket illustrated in the same figure and indicated at A is composed of an outer bracket 1 and an inner bracket 2. The outer bracket 1 comprises an annular portion 4 which encloses an outer shell 3 therein and a pair of clamp portions 5, 5 extending in parallel from the annular portion 4. The inner bracket 2 comprises a bent backrest portion 6 which is in abutment with the outer shell 3 and a pair of support pieces 7, 7 extending in parallel from the backrest portion 6.
A lower portion of the outer shell 3 with a shock absorber 8 inserted therein is enclosed in the annular portion 4 of the outer bracket 1, and the support pieces 7, 7 of the inner bracket 2 are clamped by the clamp portions 5, 5 of the outer bracket 1 while the backrest portion 6 of the inner bracket 2 is kept in abutment with the outer shell 3. The clamp portions 5 and the support pieces 7 are clamped together with bolts inserted into bolt holes 9.
However, when a shock input from the road surface is large, a bending load acting in a lateral direction X--X or a transverse direction Y--Y in FIG. 10 is imposed on the outer shell 3 or the knuckle bracket A. In the case of a lateral load, the clamp portions 5, 5 and the support pieces 7, 7 of the knuckle bracket A may become opened and deformed; as a result, there is a fear of the knuckle bracket A tilting or coming off the outer shell 3.